


replay

by haetnimie (orphan_account)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Romance, lapslock, lowkey a hot mess lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 11:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19829050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/haetnimie
Summary: “i read somewhere that you can hear the song that person’s singing in their voice after you hear them sing for the first time. it’s crazy, right? it sounds a little too good to be true…but there are many accounts of it happening with a lot of people, and so i want to believe it. i want to believe that finding your soulmate is that…simple.”in which jihoon and soonyoung work on a film together and jihoon keeps hearing shinee songs in the voice of someone who sings too loudly in the showers.





	replay

jihoon was well aware that when he got into college, he would have to put up with ‘dorm life’. for the most part, it’s fine, and he understands the reasoning as to why a university would make tall ass buildings with small ass rooms and stick two or three students in each one. and he understands that the dining hall food isn’t always going to be great and that he’s got to walk ten billion flights of stairs up to his room and that privacy can be scarce sometimes. it can be an introvert’s hell, but hey, at least you get to live on campus.

what he doesn’t understand is why the fuck anyone would decide that the bathroom, of all places, was a perfect spot to be obnoxious as hell.

jihoon usually takes his showers late at night when he know he isn’t going anywhere anymore, sealing himself in his room until he falls asleep. and so, with his slippers on, towel ready, and shower caddy in hand, he waddles over to the showers, finding himself to be the only one there. _perfect_.

everything was alright for a few minutes. the temperature of the water was just right, and it was just him and his thoughts, a rare moment of being able to be by himself. he cherishes every moment of peace and quiet until he hears the curtains of the shower right next to him, and he sighs, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair in defeat.

okay. up until that point, it’s fine. it’s a communal bathroom, and this type of situation is bound to happen. he’s fine with that. but this person, whoever it was, had the _audacity_ to start singing in the loudest voice possible.

_oh, i’m curious, yeah_  
_you smile from the picture at the moment, why_  
_oh, i’m curious, yeah_  
_i’m so curious, yeah_

jihoon had nothing against shinee; ‘sherlock’ is and always will be a timeless bop. but this person’s voice was louder than the water, and it echoed throughout the entire bathroom, because of course it did. people sing in the shower _because_ of echo that makes them sound so good. what he couldn’t wrap his head around was that this person _knew_ there was someone else in the shower, that there was someone else _in the bathroom_ , and still had the nerve to do _this_.

he’s starting to get a headache now, too. great. just what he needed.

he finishes his shower quickly after that, jihoon’s mood turning completely sour. the other person proceeds to sing ‘sherlock’ _again_ when jihoon stops the water and starts to dry himself off, as if his captive audience wanted an encore. this person wasn’t _bad_ , but in the bathroom? really? people could be so oblivious sometimes.

jihoon slips his comfy clothes on and practically slinks back to his room, hearing the person’s singing fade away as he went further down the hall — which, to be honest, thank fucking god. he stops for a moment when the person’s voice is nonexistent to rub his temples, headache remaining completely annoying. he finds his roommate looking up from his book when he _finally_ gets to his room and opens the door, immediately giving him an amused but curious look when he saw the condition of jihoon’s appearance.

in his desire to get out of the bathroom as soon as posible, jihoon didn’t have time to dry his hair completely, and he probably looked stupid, or like some edgy anime protagonist. “what’s with the…what’s with the face?” jun asks, and jihoon glare at him, well aware that the stumbling of words was because he was stopping himself from laughing. “you look like a wet cat.”

“this guy just…started singing in the shower. it was fucking annoying.” jihoon grabs the painkillers from his desk for his headache, but then he realizes it’s gone away. weird — they usually stay for a while. he won’t complain, though. he throws himself on his bed, completely drained of wanting to do any work now.

“well.” jun closes his book now, looking at jihoon with a mischievous but somewhat apologetic look on his face. “are you going to sleep now? because i am.”

jihoon nods, and jun turns his lamp off, putting them both in a pitch black atmosphere. jihoon silently thanks his roommate and gets himself comfortable in his bed, turning to his side and pulling up the blanket up to his chin.

as he closes his eyes, he annoyingly finds himself hearing _that_ person singing. great, he got _his_ version of ‘sherlock’ stuck in his head. what he doesn’t get is that it’s louder than usual, but before he could think any much of it, he falls victim to sleep.

* * *

kwon soonyoung was famous among the university’s third years for his rather good looks, and jihoon’s guilty of having his eyes glued to him whenever he enters a room. he can’t help that his heart’s instantly captivated by his eyes and his smile and the duality of his actions that just screams a gemini. he finds kwon soonyoung interesting, but no, jihoon _does not_ have a crush on him. he’s just liked to look at him…for about three years.

so he doesn’t know what to think when this very popular guy walks into the music department’s computer lab where jihoon works as a lab monitor. he hopes that his flailing in the seat wasn’t too frantic or weird, scolding his rapidly beating heart and proceeding to be as cool as possible.

“hm…lee jihoon?”

god, the way his name sounds out of soonyoung’s mouth sounded dreamy — _oh my god, that sounds so fucking weird_. because jihoon’s a helpless dumbass, he can only nod in confirmation that he is, in fact, lee jihoon. soonyoung lets out a sigh of relief and smiles, one that completely blinds him from how bright it is. he doesn’t _care_ ; it was kwon fucking soonyoung.

“kwon soonyoung.” he holds out his hand, and jihoon shakes it. _his hand’s soft it’s so soft oh my god_. “nice to meet you! um, i don’t know how else to say it, but…i’ve heard that you like to focus on composing film scores, so i wanted to ask if you could consider composing music for the film i’m making.”

jihoon blinks, his brain slowly processing the information. ‘nice to meet you’, ‘film scores’, ‘composing music for the film i’m making’ — that sounds like a collaboration made in _heaven_. to get to work with soonyoung…he knew soonyoung was aiming to be a director, and to be on the ground floor of what could possibly be the start of his career _amazed_ him. it was an opportunity unlike any other, a wonderful feeling that practically shot his heart out of his chest from the sheer excitement and exhilaration.

but on the outside, jihoon remained as stoic as ever, because he’s got to keep his rep up as cool and collected, you know? he crosses his arms and gives soonyoung an accepting nod, channeling the inner ceo persona in him to make him seem as level-headed as possible. “i’ll consider it. i’d like to know more about the film before, though.”

“of course!” the way soonyoung gave him a thumbs up was so cute. “when do you get off work?”

“hmm…around seven.”

“then let’s meet up at the nearby noodle place for dinner. my treat! see you then.” jihoon finds himself too awestruck to say anything, and he just nods again. soonyoung winks ( _that’s was dangerous!_ ) before he turns around and leaves the computer lab, leaving jihoon all alone.

he’s already mentally accepted the offer, but he had to stick to formalities there. it takes every ounce in jihoon’s body not to get up and start jumping, but he does crack a small smile. _kwon soonyoung — it was nice to meet you, too._

* * *

when he got to the noodle place — which is jihoon’s all-time favorite restaurant, by the way — soonyoung was already there, beckoning jihoon to the table he was sitting at. _alright jihoon: be cool, be cool, be cool_. he sits down, soonyoung tells him to order anything he wants, and before they know it, two big, heaping bowls of rice cake soup were in front of them ready to be devoured.

“so, jihoon.” soonyoung breaks the few moments of silence that couldn’t quiet be helped — eating is a singular activity, after all. “actually, i didn’t mention this, but i’m a fan of your work — under woozi, that is.”

…ah. jihoon set up his alias during his first year just for fun, uploading songs on youtube — he got pretty popular, he supposes, earning a hundred thousand subscribers by the end of that year. he was steadily growing in his second year, too, until a very _nosy_ hyung put two and two together when he walked up to jihoon one day and said, “so you’re still making songs, huh?”

of course _seungcheol_ would know — they were in a sort-of band when they were in high school with a few others, and of _course_ seungcheol would be in the same university as him _and_ that he practically runs the school’s forums. he makes a post, pins it to the top of the page, and _bam_ , pretty much everyone on campus knows that lee jihoon is ever-growing in popularity woozi. he knows seungcheol was just excited about his dongsaeng’s hobbies and he meant well, but…well, at the very least, people knew the _name_ lee jihoon was woozi; most have yet to put a face to the name, and it continues to stay that way even right now, in his third year. he supposes that out of the now five hundred subscribers he had, a small portion were from his school, and he shrugs it off as a difference in music taste, which is completely fine.

he didn’t think that soonyoung would be one of the few that would know woozi _the person_. it shocks jihoon so much that he forgets to blow on his soup and he burns practically half his tongue. it hurts like hell, but he holds it in, opting to take a sip of water before he replies. “ah…thank you. i don’t get that quite often — someone talking about my songs in real life, that is.”

“seriously?” soonyoung’s eyes goes wide, his cheeks stuffed with oodles of noodles. a hamster. “even when it was posted? i was super excited to know that you were in the same university as me, you know!”

the compliments…were nice, actually. it made jihoon feel all warm and fuzzy inside, or was that just the soup talking? he can only sit in that absolutely amazing feeling that soonyoung _knew_ him; maybe he needed someone to pinch him awake from this dream.

“you see, the film i’m making…it’s not for any class.” right, business. jihoon knew they had to get to this eventually. “it’s for a film festival, actually, and it’s going to be the first one i’ll be doing _myself_. i could have just done some copyright-free music, but…my professor actually told me that he’s heard of this really good student who’s focusing on film music. of course, i asked who it was, and he was like ‘someone named lee jihoon…’ — i put the pieces together, asked where i could find you, and here we are!”

soonyoung pauses as jihoon takes it all in, smiling a bit sheepishly. “sorry, i got excited. i just…really like your songs, jihoon.”

“it’s okay.” to have someone you admire say that they like your work — it was amazing. there was nothing else to say about it. jihoon finds himself staring at the noodles, coming to terms that this _was_ reality — he burnt his tongue, after all. “i’m flattered, really. thank you…thank you for enjoying them.”

“it’s no problem — oh, the film!” soonyoung laughs a bit at the fact that he forgot the most important part of this whole meeting, and jihoon finds his mouth trying to tug its way up into a small smile (he doesn’t, but it tries). “i’m focusing it on the idea of soulmates, and, okay, i watched ‘kimi no na wa’ beforehand when i thought of it, too. but…yeah. i wanted to specifically focus on the idea of it with people in their 20s, some narrations over it…i have some clips already filmed, so we can watch them when you have time to get a feel for it — that is, if you want to compose music, of course! i know i rambled on and on, but in the end, if you don’t want to, you don’t _have_ to.”

soulmates. jihoon’s heard stories and superstitions about the whole idea before, and of course he’s watched ‘kimi no na wa’, too. the idea that two people are right for each other, attached to each other by a red string of fate, overcoming obstacles to be together…he’s got a few ideas already, and it’s not like he does a lot of work when the computer lab is almost always empty. besides, he’ll be working with soonyoung — with _soonyoung_.

“no, i’ll do it. i’ll write some music for it.” jihoon presses his lips together in an attempt to keep himself from saying anything else, because he fears that he’ll say something stupid.

but he loves it when soonyoung smiles; he loves it when you could see just how happy he was, and at that particular moment, it was _him_ who did that. it was jihoon’s own action, and that makes the moment worthwhile. with soonyoung’s happy expression in his mind, he just knows that he’s going to do his best on this project. he hopes that he’ll be able to deliver happier moments in the process.

* * *

or some reason, when he heard ‘replay’ in his head, he heard it in shower boy’s voice. god, did that annoying singer forever ruin shinee songs for him? please, no, he actually _liked_ them —

“hello!”

soonyoung enters the empty computer lab with a smile, showing off the naruto usb that he had — and thank god, that person’s singing stopped. soonyoung brings a chair over to jihoon’s desk and he scoots over to the side, letting soonyoung find the clips he’s filmed so far.

there’s b rolls, an introduction of the film by soonyoung, some interviews from people that definitely seemed the same age as him. he was impressed by the fact that they weren’t all just students on campus; soonyoung had gone out of his way to find those working, those who didn’t go to college, those who were just living their day to day lives. it was fascinating.

“…you said _some_ clips,” jihoon jokingly says when the videos finally end, footage cut off the instant it hit the end. “this is already a lot.”

“haha, yeah, but…some might not make the cut, you know.” now soonyoung looks at jihoon expectantly, a look he never even thought he’d see. it felt like an exclusivity to work with soonyoung on his film…and he kinda liked that.

“hmm…well, i certainly have a feel for it now. there could be an intro, some quiet stuff when they’re talking, music for transitions, other clips, the narration…yeah, i got some ideas.” jihoon writes down the different parts of what soonyoung’s showed him so far on his phone, nodding to himself. yes, soonyoung was here, but when it comes down to work, his brain is _focused_. “actually…”

he hums a tune to himself, thinking about the idea of soonyoung’s movie — that these people want to run to the ones they love, telling them silently to be well until they arrive. it’s that sort of feeling that he’s thinking about, an upbeat but determined sound forming in his head.

“i like it!” soonyoung proceeds to nod ten thousand times, even clapping a bit, which makes jihoon’s face heat up a little. “as expected — you’re a composing genius!”

“i don’t — ”

“oh, come on, give yourself some credit. you came up with that right now, at this moment, and it’s _amazing_.”

there’s an intensity in soonyoung’s eyes that makes it difficult for jihoon to look away in embarrassment, a ‘i believe what i’m saying’ look that compels most of jihoon to believe it to, to really believe he was a genius…but he wasn’t a mozart or beethoven or anything like that.

“it’s one idea,” jihoon finally replies, shrugging but making a mental note in his head of the basic sound of it. he’s also making sure that he finely tunes the _hell_ out of it, just as he would any other song he makes. there’s a standard of perfection that his music has to reach, a standard upheld by woozi and him internally. and maybe, just maybe…if soonyoung waits for him, he could truly live up to be a composing genius.

* * *

jihoon thought he would have a couple of minutes to himself to think about the film’s music, but after literally a _minute_ of being in the shower, _that_ person enters the bathroom, belting out every single word of ‘view’ with a strong sense of conviction.

_he can hear that someone else is in here, right? or does he really not care?_

so much for being able to think about other music, and the song gets stuck in his head all the way into his dorm room. shower boy’s been in his head for a couple of weeks now, though this was only the second time they’ve ended up showering together — why was that? why was _that guy’s_ voice the one he hears when thinking of classic shinee songs? why did he just seem to be around all the time? it was perplexing to say the least, and when he tells jun about it, his roommate can only look at him with surprise.

“i know, i _know_ it sounds crazy, but i literally can’t get his voice out of my head.” god, he was still there — ‘ _such a beautiful view, show me more, the next view, such a beautiful view_ ’. “and before you say anything — yes, i’ve _tried_ listening to other songs, but i literally can’t stop hearing him. i have no control of when it stops…it’s just weird.”

“well…is he at least a good singer?”

“he’s alright.”

“hmm…” jun scratches the back of his head, avoiding the math textbook that’d offer him absolutely no answers for this question. “i really don’t know, jihoon, sorry.”

“it’s okay, it’s not your fault.” jihoon sits down at his desk, the song slowly fading out of his head. _finally_. he lets out a sigh of relief, and he gives jun a signal that the evil had been defeated — for now.

* * *

it’s about a month before the film festival’s submissions deadline, and jihoon’s composed a good ten pieces for soonyoung’s film. “ten?!” soonyoung’s reaction was complete with the biggest gasp, surprise evident on every inch of his face. “seriously, jihoon…you’re spoiling me!”

the more he’s hung out with soonyoung, the more he’s come to feel…normal next to him. normal, and even more so relaxed. soonyoung was as popular as ever, yes, but now it felt like it wasn’t out of his reach to be by soonyoung’s side, to laugh and talk alongside him, to be his _friend_. they were friends now, right? they even eat out together after meetings sometimes, and jihoon’s convinced soonyoung to go to the gym with him at two in the morning once or twice — that was being friends, wasn’t it? or was he reading too into it?

maybe jihoon’s gotten a little greedy.

“they’re really good…” soonyoung’s voice trails off, a profound look on his face as he stares at the latest versions of the songs. “they were good before, but they’re _good_ good…how do you do that? you just improve and improve.”

“haha, well…they’re almost there.” okay, he still isn’t used to soonyoung’s rapid-fire compliments just yet. “a few of them need some minor adjustments, but after that, they should be ready to go. i’m sorry i’m cutting it a little close with the deadline, but i can be done in a day or two.”

“oh, it’s fine, really.” soonyoung gives jihoon a strong pat on the back, almost threatening to knock some wind out of him. there’s his usual toothy grin on his face, and it’s just as lovely as ever. each one is saved in jihoon’s memory, a catalog kept in the back of his mind just because. “i can edit like hell, you know! i’ll get it finished it time.”

and then there’s nothing for a bit, something that keeps jihoon in suspense. why was that? why did he feel as if there’s a bit of tension? it’s when soonyoung fiddles with his hands and looks around that jihoon realizes that something’s on soonyoung’s mind, but it’s better to wait until he’s _ready_ to say something.

“you know…actually, i was thinking…” soonyoung gulps, and jihoon leans closer, the distance between them decreasing the slightest bit. it’s a scary yet thrilling movement, something that could tip the scales. “i was…i was curious, and so i clicked on something on your laptop the other day and played something…it was an untitled song. was it a woozi song? it’s really, _really_ good.”

soonyoung very persistent in this sentiment — that everything jihoon writes is _good_. but somehow, in these circumstances….it didn’t feel right. the untitled song _was_ something he was going to release in the future, a sort of anniversary song for his channel. he recorded the vocals for it just a few days ago, his raw, unrefined voice a little too embarrassing to think about. it was all sorts of unfinished, and yet he _played_ it? it felt a little too cruel, that he exposed perhaps one of the most unpleasant sides of himself. it left a bitter taste in his mouth. it wasn’t _perfect._

and then a thought dawns on him — was it actually curiosity, or was there some intent behind it? he has a lot of projects open, yes, but to click an untitled one…what was so interesting about it unless there was a thought behind it? he doesn’t want to draw conclusions, he doesn’t want to _think_ about them…but the thought of soonyoung asking woozi and not lee jihoon to write music for him makes a little too much sense.

_i don’t want to believe it i don’t want to believe it i don’t want to believe it —_

“jihoon?”

“i’ll finish those up, then.” jihoon closes his laptop, practically shoving everything into his backpack. for once, he _wishes_ the shower boy’s voice would come and interrupt the thoughts with another shinee song. he wants to go and disappear in his room, to sink into his bed and never get up. “i’ll — i’ll send you the link when they’re finished.”

he doesn’t look back when he exists the computer lab; he doesn’t want to see what soonyoung’d face would look like. it would be too painful of a memory.

* * *

he finishes the music in a day, finding himself in a daze to finish it as quickly as he can and sending the link to soonyoung just as he promised the minute he added those final touches. at the very least, each piece was very much the way he intended them to sound, and he isn’t shameful of how meticulously he’s composed them. no matter what, he’ll finish his part of something to the very end — it’s just the right thing to do.

and just like that, a month passes. he thinks about soonyoung every once in a while — ‘ _he’s probably editing it by now_ ’, ‘ _is he almost done?_ ’, _today’s the submissions deadline_ ’. he doesn’t mind those passing thoughts because they don’t go about growing into downward spirals — for the most part, anyway. if he can help it, he stops right there, prompting to do something else. the untitled song’s got a name now — ‘what kind of future’. he doesn’t feel like it’s ready, yet, even though the channel’s anniversary passed. oh well, he’ll post it when it’s the way he likes it. and somehow, shower boy’s a little quiet, too; was there no more enthusiasm for shinee?

god damn, this part of his life is just bleak as hell.

jun’s playing some games on his phone and jihoon’s reading some manga when there’s a knock on the door, surprising the both of them. no one really comes by to their room — and to be honest, it’s because it’s a fucking _mess_. jihoon tiptoes around the shirts and jeans on the floor, curses the fact that there’s no way to see who’s on the other side, and opens the door.

“jihoon.” soonyoung’s rather solemn face takes a hold of jihoon for a second, and then he realizes — it’s soonyoung. it’s the person that he wanted to see the _least_ , and he never thought he’d be saying such a thing. there’s a pit in his stomach right away, but he doesn’t have it in him to close the door; he only stares into soonyoung’s eyes, finding himself a little lost in the way they reflected such a somber tone to them.

“i got your email, so i wanted to thank you,” soonyoung begins, dipping his head a bit. “…thank you. thank you, really. you worked really hard on the music, and it shows. i’m really happy about it.”

he’s fidgeting; he’s got more to say. though jihoon doesn’t know where this conversation will go, he wants to hear it. god, he wants to see it through because he’s stupid and —

“of course, i’m sorry, too. snooping around your laptop’s gross, and it’s rude, and it’s not right. i shouldn’t have done that. i shouldn’t have let that kind of curiosity get the best of me and to lose your trust.” soonyoung then takes something out of his back pocket — a ticket, one with jihoon’s name on it. “my film got accepted, so, uh, if you wanted to see the final version…”

was he dumb for taking the ticket in his hands, wanting to see what the result of their work was? that he wanted to sit down next to soonyoung and see the movie with his music in the background? that for some reason, he wanted to go back to the way they were before, to the way that he was able to be someone by his side?

“okay.” he said that. he _really_ said that. he hopes he isn’t making some huge mistake. “i want to see it. but you have to take me to the noodle place beforehand.”

“pfft, of course!” and just like that, soonyoung lights up. that’s more like it. it instantly lifts jihoon’s mood, and god, why was he like this with soonyoung only? why was it him? he doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t dislike the feeling in his chest. “see you next weekend, then.”

soonyoung leaves, and jihoon closes the door, his eyes still glued to the ticket. it could be the start of something new, something better. the film making process had ended, but he feels as if they’ll be friends after that. he wouldn’t mind that at all.

“ _whipped_ ,” jun calls from his bed, practically startling jihoon out of his trance. “you’re whipped, jihoon!”

“shut up!”

* * *

they festival is held at a nearby park, a big screen towering over blankets and lawn chairs and what not. they had gone to the noodle place right before per jihoon’s request, but when they got to the park, soonyoung practically threw a blanket on the ground, slamming a picnic basket down and taking out tens and thousands of sweets. jihoon isn’t much of a sweet tooth, but hey, it’s free movie snacks. they sit down with just the picnic basket between them, but the thought of sitting next to soonyoung makes jihoon’s face turn red. it’s a stroke of luck that the festival takes place at night an that he can’t see it. soonyoung’s film is shown right in the middle. jihoon thinks they should have saved the best for last, but whatever. at least he gets to see it.

there’s more interviews, and soonyoung’s narration got a little lengthier. for some reason, that fact makes jihoon laugh under his breath; some parts of it really did seem like it came out of ‘kimi no na wa’. he _swears_ soonyoung took some words from the trailer verbatim, but it’s a secret between him and soonyoung that a movie like that was inspiration. he likes the sound of a secret.

and the end of the film, soonyoung shows up in front of the camera, and he can hear some people gasp in the audience — ‘wow, he’s handsome’. _that’s right_ , jihoon says to himself, _that’s my buddy_.

that’s his buddy, and jun’s right, he’s _whipped_. alright, so he’s like soonyoung all this time, he’ll admit that. maybe it’s why he’s in a good mood when he’s around him all the time. maybe it’s why that, despite the situation with the untitled song, he forgave soonyoung rather than holding a grudge against him. maybe he gets a little too happy when he thinks about soonyoung.

so he likes him. okay. but that’s that on that.

“everyone has a different idea of a soulmate, but i found my idea on the internet.” the audience laughs when the soonyoung in the film pauses, smiling, as if he knew he just cracked the best joke ever. “i read somewhere that you can hear the song that person’s singing in their voice after you hear them sing for the first time. it’s crazy, right? it sounds a little too good to be true…but there are many accounts of it happening with a lot of people, and so i want to believe it. i want to believe that finding your soulmate is that…simple.”

…huh. what an interesting idea. and wasn’t that a song of his, ‘simple’? it was probably one of the first songs he posted on woozi’s channel, but simple’s a common word. it couldn’t mean that, could it? it’s a coincidence.

but what isn’t a coincidence that every shinee song he’s got stuck in his head after his first stint with the shower boy was in his voice only. hm. interesting indeed. but…somehow, it makes sense…?

film soonyoung then says his final words. “you’ve got to be some kind of sherlock to find your soulmate, but trust me, you’ll want to replay their voice over and over again once you do.”

the screen goes to black, and the audience claps — except for jihoon, who realizes that there’s one too many shinee references in that ending statement to ignore. “soonyoung. do you really like shinee?”

“do i really like — of course i do!” soonyoung blinks at jihoon a bit before shaking his head. “ _that’s_ what you picked up from the movie?”

“i’m just putting what you said at the ending into action.” the cheers die down when the screen shows the title of the next film, but jihoon could care less. in fact, he’s about to get pretty reckless. “can you sing a shinee song — any song.”

“‘one of one girl, one of one girl’…”

“oh my god.” he doesn’t hear the voice in his head; he doesn’t have to. it’s right here. jihoon grabs soonyoung’s shoulders, probably a little too tight, but he _has_ to know… “soonyoung, did you hear the untitled song because i was recording it and you could hear it?”

“i…you actually…?” soonyoung’s obviously trying to catch up, and he doesn’t blame him; when he realizes what jihoon means, however, he takes a hold of jihoon’s hand, the disbelief apparent in the tone of his voice. “i did. i heard you record it. the laptop thing…i didn’t know how to explain it. i thought i’d sound crazy.”

“so the soulmates thing…”

“…is real?”

he could feel the warmth coming from soonyoung’s hand, and it grounds him reality, that soonyoung was the one placed on this earth for _him_. it makes jihoon’s heart soar, he no, he doesn’t repress a smile anymore. it’s _him_ that’s the voice inside his head, the one he secretly hoped for. he couldn’t ask for someone better, he really couldn’t.

“soonyoung…” jihoon leans in closer, their lips almost touching — but it’s just a tease for now at least, a promise of what’s about to come. let him just gather the strength first. “i love you, but for fuck’s sake, don’t sing _that_ loud in the bathroom.”

**Author's Note:**

> where do i start....oh boy.
> 
> i didn't edit this at all otl but i will...eventually, when i find it in me to. there's a lot going on in this one.  
> thank u for reading as always!!


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